Fred Astaire Dance Studio, Inc

Shout out to Marjuan! (Sorry if I miss spelled it). This guy is the best! He helped us get our dance routine going for our wedding. We did not know what we wanted to do or how we wanted to dance or anything! Marjuan helped us coordinate a dance that was super elegant, fun, classy, and easy! He made dancing so much fun for both of us. We took about 6ish classes.
They have this group thing on Fridays that’s a little on the later side but it’s fun! It’s a lot of people who come get lessons and you can bring a friend and dance with everyone. They do all the forms of dancing. Salsa, ball room, the hustle, tango, all of it! All in one night of straight fun! It was very nice going into a well established studio like this one and not being made fun of for not knowing the steps or anything. They encourage you to try and have fun with it!
Marjuan helped us a ton. So thanks man! The rest of the staff is also awesome! I forget their names but the Latino gentleman and the elegant taller lady and the Spanish shorter lady as well as the main lady of the whole building! ALL the staff is very nice and helpful and very inviting. So thanks to you all for all your help! We did a few mistakes at our wedding but that’s because I did not practice with such a big dress my wife had on! :-D but we had such a blast learning and dancing and doing it all at this place! Take our word for it, we both have two left feet and these guys can correct that without you even knowing it!

I was going to this studio before it became Fred Astaire. The new ownership spend considerable money to upgrade and enhance the studio with better lighting, better sound, new window and wall treatments and a great staff. Always a pleasure to go there and dance. Highly recommend.

I purchased a Groupon for an introductory package that included (2) 45min private lessons for my wife and I for our anniversary. I was skeptical going in to see just how much we would get out of it but was very happy with the results. First our instructor Talia was an absolute delight! Funny, great personality, and very well spoken, Talia walked us through a number of basic steps, form, and gave us a great understanding/​foundation to build off of.
Sadly their prices are a bit steep and we will be seeking a closer studio in order to continue our lessons. I highly recommend the studio and Talia if you can swing the cost.

I walked in to this studio thinking I was going to learn how to dance a few dances, I did not think it was going to change my life. It did!
I have more energy, I smile more, I’m happier, and yes I have learned a bit about dancing.
The studio owners are warm wonderful people who have built a studio and staff that reflects the best characteristics of themselves. Their instructors are warm, patient, talented and frequently funny. They are also passionate about dancing, and teaching you to do so, at what ever level you are shooting for.
My fellow students are great fun, and becoming friends. They come in all ages, shapes and from varied backgrounds. An interesting group, worth getting to know if you never danced a step with them.
Dancing has helped me become healthier, learn to take chances and improved my confidence. This has been one of the best things I have ever done for myself and for my family because I am a better wife and mom when I am happy and healthy.
Come dance with us, you won’t regret it!

I originally walked into FADS a couple months back after purchasing a Groupon for 2 private lessons. After my second private lesson, I was hooked. (The first was mainly a sales pitch for the studio and packages, which didn’t really surprise me, since it WAS a Groupon…)
The studio instructors and owners are ALL amazing, encouraging, and genuinely interested in your progress. I am thrilled to be working with Vadim and Tino — they’re absolutely incredible and I’d recommend either of them in a heart beat.
Ballroom is an expensive hobby — no doubt. BUT, if you take advantage of the group lessons and dance parties throughout the week, then it’s actually a pretty good value. Plus, you have to weigh in the emotional and physical benefits. Each time I leave, I can’t help but be in a good mood because I’ve had so much fun. Subtle cardio is a bonus.
I won’t be giving up this adventure anytime soon.

My husband and I got the Groupon deal and yes, the first class was a combination of lesson and sales pitch. Isn’t that what Groupon is for? We got a chance to try 4 different dances (and both of us used the same Groupon for only $ 18), toured the studio, and got sat down at the end to discuss the options for signing up for a package of classes. We appreciate that businesses use Groupon as a way to let new customers sample their services in the hopes that they’ll stay on at full price. Nobody’s expecting them to give away wildly cheap dance lessons out of the goodness of their heart.
Billy was a great instructor and really used a lot of positive reinforcement to make the private lessons fun for us while we learned. We never felt stupid or awkward and really had a great time! In the end we did sign up for some extra classes, though we never felt pressured to do so.
The studio is really nice! We went on a Thursday while other couples were practicing, and we went again on a Friday to have a private lesson during a group class. It was a little loud but we still were able to focus. Afterward, they had a «party» which is a regular thing. It’s really an opportunity to practice, both with your partner and with the teachers, in an atmosphere similar to where you’d actually use these dance moves: the lights are dimmed and disco/​laser lights come on, plus they even have a refreshment table with yummy treats, beer, and wine! We were wiped out at the end of a long workday and dance lesson, but really thought the «party» was a lot of fun and handled very very well by the staff and instructors.
The instructors are professional dancers and therefore the lessons are not cheap, but if you want some great classes you’ll love Fred Astaire Dance Studio. My husband and I really have no need to learn anything about ballroom dancing, but we are having a blast there and find it not just fun but romantic too!

I found this place on google, but read the other two reviews on Unilocal before i committed. I bought 8 lessons as my wife’s birthday present, but so far i think i enjoy it just as much if not more than she does. I’m surprised.
You start off in a beginner program learning just the basic steps to 8 or so dances (after 4 lessons we have learned the basic steps to salsa, foxtrot, tango, swing, waltz, cha cha, hustle (the real one, not the bar crap), merengue, samba, and rumba. i guess that’s more than 8, but we kept asking questions about other dances and our instructor (karla, who is awesome) would oblige us.
now we’re at the point where we need to select 3 or 4 dances to concentrate on. I think this is a great lesson structure because it allows you to get a taste of everything before picking what you really want to do.
probably the best part is the group lessons they have almost every night. if you are taking private lessons, you can show up as often as you like for the group lessons (so if you are taking a private lesson every other week, you effectively could get 10 or so lessons for the price of one by showing up every day for a couple weeks). it’s a great way to get maximum value.
if you’ve ever even remotely considered taking ballroom dancing lessons, i highly recommend at least going for the free introductory lesson to check it out.
(there is not specific reason why i give 4 stars instead of 5, i’d just rather give it a few more lessons to see how things play out)

I’ve just come back from a ballroom dance competition. Yes. Seriously.
About 6 months ago, I started taking dance lessons at the Fred Astaire Dance Studio in Bloomfield Hills. The same great things I said about the place still apply. It’s fun place with a family atmosphere, and it’s a great place to learn how to ballroom dance.
My dance competition experience went a little something like this. A couple of months ago, it was suggested that I try to make it to the Cross Country Dance Competition (CCDC) of the Fred Astaire Dance Studios. The CCDC was in Las Vegas. My instructor Karla and my buddy instructor worked with me on the dances I was going to do. We had a Rumba routine put together by Jack Davy, one of the coaches who would serve as a judge in Vegas and who travels around to various Fred Astaire studios to help coach students. We worked on these things right up until the competition. I went to the competition not caring whether I won or lost. I just wanted to feel like I did well, and I wanted to have fun.
The whole experience was great throughout – even if it wasn’t free. We had to pay to join the competition, but that’s understandable. Everything was taken care of except for my plane ticket. I got on the plane with some other students from the studio, our instructors who were going to dance with us, and the studio franchisees/​owners Evan Mountain and Lada Reschikova. We got a minibus to get us and our luggage to the airport. We got tickets to a show in Vegas, Le Reve. We got dinner each night, breakfast every morning, and all but one lunch. Evan and Lada took us around. The paid for taxis, thrill rides to give us a break from dancing. We got a competition that was run by the Fred Astaire Co. seamlessly with people from all over the nation – students, instructors, amateur couples – competing basically from 8am to almost midnight every night. Each event involved an approximately 60 – 90 second dance. Imagine the logistics of getting the right competitors to the dance floor with the right music and the right judges again and again and again and again… It was a marvel of organization. Not only was it that. It was unbelievably fun to watch all the great dancers. This was especially true when the pros competed – when it was all pros, no amateurs. The pros also put on a wonderful show for all us students. Imagine being in the front row for «Dancing with the Stars» with every single dancer being a professional – not a professional with a Kate Gosselin/​amateur. It was like DWTS, but much, much better! We also got to meet a lot of cool people who share our passion for dance. We got to also hobnob with DWTS-​connected people like Elena Grinenko, Corky Ballas, and Fabian Sanchez, who all served as judges. If one wanted to, one could dance with them too!
I invite you Unilocalers to come and enjoy some dancing with Fred Astaire! Pop in to check it out!

Disclaimer: The following update contains excessive praise and gratuitous verbosity regarding physical and psychosocial health improvement directly attributed to FADS. Those of the couch potato persuasion may find the graphic content disconcerting.
By nature I am a rather reserved person. If I’m out with my friends, I’m the wingman. When I play in my band, I’m the guitarist, not the lead singer. At parties, I’m the one who will listen to a zillion conversations but not say more than a few words. Quite frankly, I’ve grown bored with it, and thankfully, with the help of FADS, that is changing.
If you had asked me 5 months ago, why I wanted to take ballroom dancing, my answer… as alluded to in the first review of FADS… was so I could dance at a wedding. Period. End of story. No mas. Ah, but what a difference 5 months makes.
«Why?» you ask.
Because I have just participated in my first national ballroom dance competition! Yay me! :)
Actually that should be «Yay FADS!!!» because without the encouragement of the owners, the teachers, and the other students, I would have never broken out of my shell enough to have the courage to compete. During the course of the 4 day event, I found myself meeting and more importantly, talking to dozens of other students and instructors from the other Fred Astaires… very un-​me, and I feel all the better for it.
The root of my «blossoming», for lack of a better term, goes directly back to the instruction and family atmosphere at FADS. From day 1 in the group class, you rotate partners. Nothing melts the ice like getting into the personal space of a complete stranger. After that first day, dancing with someone new is no big deal. For me, that has also meant becoming more socially out-​going. Don’t get me wrong… I’m still pretty shy but now its so much easier for me to meet people.
The effect on my physical well being has likewise been profound. I have a notable improvement in my weight, blood pressure, and my posture. This is exercise that I WANT to do because it doesn’t feel like exercise… it’s just fun.
In my first review I mentioned that it is not cheap to do this. That’s true. However, if you look at it as an investment in your health (in my case, both physical and psychosocial), the cost is more than reasonable.
Think of the money you’ve spent at the beginning of each new year. You know, that resolution to get in shape… the one where you vowed to get to the gym 5 days a week… the one for which you set up with a personal trainer to force you to keep with it… the one for which you signed up at the über-​chic LifeBallPower Gym for in January, went for 2 sessions, and then «got too busy». Yeah… that’s the one.
Want a better way? Try ballroom… you get your cardio, your strength, and your conditioning all while learning to dance. Try ballroom… Try FADS!